ACTED Agence d'Aide a la Cooperation Technique et au Developpement A2eHmcmao no TexHu'leCKOMYCompyoHul.fecmay u Pa3aumwo Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development WAKHAN MISSION REPORT Survey of the livelihood conditions and the governance framework among Wakhi and Kirghiz communities in Wakhan Woluswali, Afghanistan 1 ,·:, ...A,.,. rt t.;. r l,l\i .. Q. ' \ ....., ~ I I ~/ ',,,~ ....- ....-" ,,, Sabine F elmy Hermann Kreutzmann Kabul August 2003 Sabine Felmy/ Hermann Kreutzmann, Wakhan Mission Report Contents 1 Introduction 3 2 Objectives of the mission 6 3 Statement of the historical background for the comprehension of the present situation 7 4 Findings of the mission 9 4.1 Power relations and social structure 9 Woluswali 9 Commander system 9 Wakhi community 9 Kirghiz community 10 4.2 Infrastructure development 11 Road infrastructure 11 Electricity 12 Drinking water 4.3 Agriculture 13 Crop-farming 14 Livestock-keeping 14 4.4 Education and health 15 Schools 15 Health facilities and surveys 17 4.5 Mobility, migration and non-agrarian income generation through wages and salaries 18 Migration 18 Non-agrarian income generation 19 Salariat 19 4.6 Exchange economy and entrepreneurship 20 4.7 Tourism and trophy-hunting 22 4.8 NGO activities at present 23 5 Conclusions and recommendations 24 5.1 Wakhan Woluswali 27 5.2 Position of the Kirghiz 29 5.3 Potential for development and stakeholders 30 6 References 31 Appendix 1: Itinerary of the Wakhan mission from Taloqan to Murghab 33 Appendix 2: English translation of an article published in Frankfurter"Rundschat, No. 258 of 35 November 6, 2000, p. 9: Hard times on the roof of the world Appendix 3: List of Acronyms 38 2 Sabine Felmy/ Hermann Kreutzmann, Wakhan Mission Report 1 Introduction Wakhan Woluswali is the administrative term for the northeastern narrow appendix-like strip of Afghan territory. Not only due to its topography and orography this area has a long record of being neglected within the context of Afghan administration, infrastructure development and spread of social amenities. The spiritual and political leader of the Wakhi community, Shah Ismael from Qala-e Panja, put it this way during our conversation: "To what country does Wakhan belong? We do not know if it is part of Afghanistan, Tajikistan or PR of China because we do not feel any interest and responsibility of a caring government and long-lasting effects of development measures here. Therefore my participation in the Loya Jirga and my recent journey to call on the ministeries in Kabul seem to have been in vain." The territorial area ofWakhan Woluswali (Fig.1) covers 8936 km2 of mountainous country stretching between 2570m and 7485m. Ecological zones vary from desert conditions in the valley bottoms to artemisia steppe in medium elevations and to meadows and grassy patches in the higher elevations forming what in local terminology is addressed as pamer (high pasture in Wakhi language). Thus inhabitable space is scarce and confined to mainly two ecological units: - Agricultural settlements for irrigated crop farming are nearly exclusively located in the valley bottoms of the Amu Darya and the Ab-e Wakhan between 2550m (Futur) and 3360m (Sarhad-e Wakhan or locally more frequently called Sathad-e Baroghil). Irrigated oases are situated on alluvial scree slopes, fans and river terraces within a steppe to semi-desert environment. Those comparatively flat and low-lying regions are the sole agro-ecologically suitable areas for irrigated crop farming of cereal and tuber crops such as wheat (Wakhi: ghedim;Triticum aestivum), barley (yirk; Hordeumvulgare), millet (jirz;Panicum miliaceum), peas(shakh, Pisum sativum),beans (baqlcr,Vicia faba), potatoes (kachalu;Solanum tuberosum) and pulses (krosh;LatfD,rus sativus). In small quantities rapeseed (sharsham),vetch and flax are cultivated in the lower-lying villages. - The second ecological area of agricultural interest are the high pastures either located in the river valleys above the settlements in easy reach for proximity pastures or daily grazing grounds. The most valuable pastures are located in the Little Pamir - Pamir-eKhurd (Dari) or Kichik Pamir (Kirg.) - and the Great Pamir - Pamir-eKalan (Dari) or ChongPamir (Kirg.). Those extensive natural pastures are the wealth of the region which were praised as far back as during Marco Polo's travels (Polo 1984). The extended natural grazing grounds offer high quality fodder during the summer months and permit Wakhi mountain farmers seasonal usage and Kirghiz nomads to keep their herds there all-year-round (cf. Curz on 1896, Kreu tzmann 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003). In the past the natural fodder resource has permitted a profitable animal husbandry which enabled the local Kirghiz to enjoy a substantial degree of wealth prior to the Saur Revolution (cf. Shahrani 1979). Events of the last quarter century have changed migration and utilization patterns and the success of agricultural enterprises dramatically. Herds are usually comprised of mainly sheep and goats (they are the prime marketable product of livestock-breeding), yaks in the higher elevations (mainly for home consumption and transport), horses, donkeys, and Bactrian camels (for riding and transport). The Wakhan Woluswali is inhabited by two ethnic groups (see Fig. 1): Wakhi and Kirghiz. Both groups are on first sight distinguishable by their prime subsistence strategy. 1 The Wakhi mountain 1) "Two major strategies are used to utilize the pasture potential of Western High Asia given the ecological constraints and socio-political circumstances. They are nomadic animal husbandry and combined mountain agriculture (Ehlers and Kreutzmann 2000): (i) Nomadism incorporates the advantage of mobility. Traditionally nomadic groups were able to exploit natural resources at dispersed locations. Great distances, in the order of several hundred kilometres, separate economically - valuable mountain pastures from winter camp sites, with areas of less economic interest lying between them. Functional migration cycles can be recognized in the region. They generally comprise long stays in high-altitude pastures during the summer with winter grazing in low-lying basins in the northern foothills or the plains of the Inner Asian mountain arc. The nomads depend on being tolerated as a mobile group and being able to pay grazing 3 Sabine Felmy/ Hermann Kreutzmann , Wakhan Mission Report a, D a,"'"' D -N C C C C "'"'E E ~ ~ ~ ~ Q) Q) ~~ C 0 "Q) (/) 2 C.... "C Q) (')"' :t:! ctl ~ Cl.. i;; ~ -g > C ·.:: ~i 0 ::::: a.i ~.... ~ O> U) .E ctl C C ctl 0 U) ~ ·c Q) ctl (/) .c "O .E' c<( ctl ~ Q)= .... ctl :::J ~ t5 ~ :::J­ N .... 0 :E e> 00$ ~ ctl .... .._ C :::, E 0 Q) c co "/ ·..c:: c E Q) :;': ·- .c .~ Q) w ' ~ E Q) > <l'. -~ "@ ~V) E Q) ~h; c V) ~I g$ V) v,u ~=' ~ CJ) C /, .i t ::, 0 a>z 0"' 0 ,, -J<{-~ Q. 1ii .c "'o (.) :m~ §} .!::: "'Q. V) ·5 ~ 2 \.::C C ,, '4 Q) ~ z \ . a~ E Q) :t:! <ii <ii Q) ·cE ·cE CJ) C C 0 0 £"' £"' ,- ·c, ·c, ·;:; ;: ~ ~ C C c 0 0 O> c Q) Q) u::: E E <I) ,Jg !~it Q) _§:;':_§;z <ll- ro- ~ "'N co cO :E :E 0"' 0 V) e> V>u "'u "" "'~Q)Q) "'~Q)Q) :;':"' ~ "'.c "'.c DD t •t fees, if applicab le, in both areas . (ii) Combined mountain agriculture has the advantage of simultaneous fodder production in the permanent homesteads for herds which are grazed in the high pastures during the summers. The limiting factor here is the provision of up to nine months feed which has to be produced on private or common property village lands. The Wakhi houses are usually located at the upper levels of permanent settlements in single-crop farming areas. Consequently access to the pamir pastures involves shorter migrations and some mobility within the summer habitations. Fodder here is comparatively plentiful but only available for a short period, feed storage and transport to the homesteads are of limited importance. Both approaches can result in competition for natural resources in the same location and they have frequently been discussed from that perspective" (quoted from Kreutzmann 2003). 4 Sabine Felmy/ Hermann Kreutzmann, Wakhan Mission Report farmers follow a strategy which is based on combined mountain agriculture (cf. Ehlers & Kreutzmann 2000). They speak a language called khikwar or sposik by themselves and Wakhi by others. Wakhi belongs to the Pamirian language group of the Eastern Iranian branch of the Iranian languages within the Inda-Iranian group. Kirghiz pastoralists follow in general a mountain nomadic approach to utilize the high pastures of the Afghan Pamirs. Their Kirghiz language belongs to the Altaic group and is closely related to neighbouring Turkic languages. Besides language differences, Wakhi and Kirghiz follow different belief systems. Kirghiz communities traditionally comprise of Sunni Muslims, while the Wakhi almost exclusively belong to the Shia Ismaili sect which acknowledges the Aga Khan as their spiritual head. The religious practices influence daily life and local cultures as religious festivals and rituals play prominent roles beyond rites of passage. Kirghiz culture is characterized by the lifestyle of migrating pastoralists including transitory dwellings in the form of the round felt-covered yurts displaying artefacts of local folklore (cf. Dor and Naumann 1978, Kreutzmann 2001, 2003, Shahrani 1979). In contrast Wakhi houses are built of stone and mud-plastered walls and are scattered among the village lands in irrigated mountain oases. Wakhi herders migrate to high mountain pastures where simple houses provide shelter. The majority of household members remain in the villages where cultural life is centred at this time (cf. Felmy 1997, Kreutzmann 1996). Both life-styles exhibit close affinities to the different traditions and affiliations of the two groups. The scattered population is given by the acting-Woluswal, Mullah M. Jon, in Khandut as consisting of 13400 inhabitants split-up in about 1100 Wakhi households in the villages located in the valley floor - nearly equally divided between the low-lying western Amu Darya or Pyandsh valley (2570-2850m) and the higher-elevated settlements in the eastern Ab-e Wakhan valley (2850-3360m).